Enchanted by the Beast
by MadewithPurpose
Summary: Cara Carson thought that staying at Hallow Hill wasn't much of a punishment, that is until the Goblin King comes along and attempts to make her is wife. Present day fanfiction Please review!
1. Chapter 1: The Perfect Punishment

Part One: The Perfect Punishment

"It's so nice you could stay with us this summer," Mrs. Douglas was a kind woman in her sixties. Her hair was graying and pulled casually back into a bun while her brown eyes glistened youthfully. Her husband of forty-two years sat at the head of the long dining table slurping his soup.

"It is, even under the circumstances," Mr. Douglas attempted to keep in a chuckle until his wife silenced him with a stare. His hair was already grey and depleting quickly from the top of his head; however he looked younger than his wife.

Cara Carson sat in front of Mrs. Douglas and smiled a bit embarrassed. The 'circumstances' that Mr. Douglas had mentioned were not a laughing matter, at least not to Cara. The young girl of seventeen and a half was a bit of a mouth, and her unruly gabber had finally sent her parents over the edge. It was her father's idea to leave his youngest daughter at Hallow Hill with his friends the Douglas' while the rest of the family toured around Europe for summer vacation. At first Cara had thought that the punishment was no big deal, however she quickly changed her mind. The only people who resided at Hallow Hill were the Douglas' and a few of their hired help; none of these people were under the age of forty. Also, the guest house, or the Lodge as they had called it, was very much the same as it had been since the nineteen hundreds, except of course for the few modern touches such as lighting and indoor plumbing. At the Lodge, an old housekeeper lived and she was by far the meanest, most compulsive person Cara had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

"You've become so beautiful!" Mrs. Douglas smiled as she tried to distract Cara from her goofy husband. Cara blushed a bit. "I bet you have a boyfriend! What's his name?" She cooed like a teenager and raised her thin eyebrows. Cara squirmed in her chair. She had only recently broken up with her older, college boyfriend, whom she had been dating behind her parents back.

"Oh no," She responded. "I'm too busy with soccer to date." It wasn't a complete lie, so she thought God would forgive her. Cara gave the couple her most sincere, innocent look, and by the looks on their faces, they believed her.

"That's a good girl," Mr. Douglas chuckled as he gave her a friendly wink. "You don't need to date until you're married." He laughed at his own joke while Mrs. Douglas ignored him and happily continued her chatting.

"You're hair is so lovely! Do you use anything special to make it so volumized?" Mrs. Douglas knew that her husband wouldn't dare enter into a conversation regarding hair and makeup. Cara gave a nervous laugh; this small talk was going to kill her. Normally the girl wouldn't have any trouble making conversation with people, even strangers, but this couple was just a little too strange.

"Nothing special," She muttered. "I just blow dry it and tease it a little." Mrs. Douglas seemed content with her answer.

"What about your skin? It's so smooth! You must go to the dermatologist often." Cara focused on the food on her plate for a moment. This was getting more awkward by the minute and she could feel her smile waver for a fraction of a second. Mrs. Douglas didn't appear to notice, even though her eyes were glued on the younger girl.

"Uh, I just wash my face with this really good acne cream then I put on foundation to even out the color…" Cara bit her bottom lip. Her face was starting to flush from the unwanted attention of the older woman and she knew she had to change the subject from herself somehow.

"Oh and don't get me started on your eyes!" Mrs. Douglas went on, completely oblivious to Cara's more than obvious discomfort. "What a darling shade of brown! They look almost like honey." Cara nodded her face the brightest hue of red it could muster.

Before Cara could respond to the woman's praise, Mr. Douglas broke into the conversation and effortlessly changed the subject. Cara glanced over to the older man and mouthed an unspoken gratitude. It was true that the young girl was very pretty by most standards. Her long, light brown hair was fashionable cut and her curvy yet athletic body made her the envy of many, however all the talk about her daily beauty routine had made her anxious.

"Have you seen the tree circle behind the Lodge yet?" He asked while looking over the rims of his thin glasses. "It's certainly something!"

"Tom!" His wife shrieked, "The girl only just got here two days ago! And she has been sleeping and unpacking all of today, of course she hasn't seen it yet." Cara silently sighed. She wanted to hear what Mr. Douglas had to say and the Mrs. interrupted whenever she could.

"Well she's up now!" The man chirped. "What time is it in California anyways? 4 a.m.? You should be wide awake now!" He chuckled again. The seventeen and a half year old blinked, confused.

"Where is the… tree circle exactly? I might as well look around a little bit before I go back to sleep some more."

"Oh good, it's magical at this time of day! You can see all the stars." Mr. Douglas seemed pleased the young girl was taking an interest in what he had to say. "Right behind the Lodge is a small, but steep, hill. At the top is the tree circle. Actually, a lot of people believe that that very hill is why this estate is called 'Hallow Hill'." He looked towards his wife who was thoughtfully sipping her soup. She apparently didn't care much about the topic. "And they say that goblins and elves built it and they—"

"Tom!" His wife interrupted again. "Don't tell her those old legends. She's a young lady, not a little child. Don't bore her with that rubbish." Cara pursed her lips. She wanted to hear the rest of the story but it was clear that wasn't going to happen as long as Mrs. Douglas was around.

"Oh fine," Mr. Douglas muttered with disappointment. "Experts are pretty sure a religious group called druids built it as a place of worship because they regarded this land as holy." Cara liked the goblins and elves story better, it created some adventure. She stood up from the table (her plate had already been cleared away by an elderly butler) and politely excused herself.

"I think I'll go look for it right now, thanks Mr. Douglas." She said. "Thank you very much for the dinner, I'll see you both of you tomorrow night."

"Wait, Cara," Mr. Douglas stood up and grabbed something from one of the many wooden tables. "Take this with you." He handed her a large, metal flashlight. "Just in case." He added in a fatherly tone. Cara clasped her hand around the thick handle and nodded. Mr. Douglas was more like a father to her than she felt her own father was. Without another word, the seventeen and a half year old walked from the room and finally out of the Hill altogether.

Cara didn't mind the walk from the main house to the Lodge. The path was paved with loose gravel and twisted and turned with the country side. The summer air was cool and refreshing and the air smelled like firewood and pine needles. The forest surrounded the land on three sides and cast long, black shadows over the grassy fields. Cara couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around the daunting trees, and even though the sun was just disappearing from sight she had the flashlight turned on and focused in front of her. Something didn't feel exactly right, but Cara quickly shook the feeling. She focused instead on the soft crunch of the gravel and the sound of animals scurrying to find shelter for the night.

"Heehee!" Cara jumped and turned promptly at the sound of the laughter. She couldn't see anyone on the immediate path, and therefore she dismissed it. The Lodge was now within sight and she quickened her pace to a light jog. Now that she looked at it, the manor was still very grand in appearance and reminded her of a home that would've been used in a Jane Austen novel.

She went around the back of the imposing house and started to poke around until she found the path Mr. Douglas had told her about. Slowly she climbed the incline, her flashlight scanning the nearby brush for animals and insects, until she made it to the top. Towering oak trees formed a perfect circle around the top of the steep hill and through the gaps another layer of trees just as grand could be seen. Through both the layers of trees the inside was hidden, almost like a secret meeting place. Cara smiled to herself as she squeezed her way into the center.

The clearing in the middle of the tree circle had thick and lush green turf across the foundation and the oak trees surrounding it towered so high the flashlights beam couldn't reach the top. Cara chuckled. "Well Mr. D, you were right. This place is very magical." She said to herself as she turned off the flashlight and laid down in the soft grass. "Maybe this summer won't be so boring after all," She added.

She remained there, calm and still as she looked up at the full moon and billions of twinkling stars. I've never seen so many stars before, she thought, the country has its advantages. A sudden wave of drowsiness overtook the young girl and she jumped up quickly to shake away the feeling. She enjoyed being inside the tree circle, but she didn't like it enough to sleep there. Cara grabbed the flashlight and turned it on again before trudging back down the hill to continue her exploration of Hollow Hill.

There were many fields stretched out for miles in front of the two manors and the untamed forest surrounded the other three sides. She remembered someone telling her that the forest had never been cut down or investigated because it was said to be 'haunted', but that was a load of rubbish to the seventeen and a half year old.

The moon was rising higher and higher into the night sky and Cara thought it would be a good idea to head back to the Lodge for the night; she could finish her adventure the next day. She hadn't wondered too far from the guest house so the return trip only took her a few moments. When she arrived there all the lights were off except for the light in the living room. Cara opened the door (which was never locked) and walked into the room. Much like the outside of the house, the inside was straight out of the nineteenth century. Thin lace curtains covered the large windows and the furniture was made of dark-stained wood. It looked more like a museum than a house.

On the old-fashioned couch sat the housekeeper, Ms. Locke. She sat with her back to the door as she worked intently on the knitting project in her lap. "I'm back," Cara said as she closed the front door. Ms. Locke looked up, her sunken eyes showed her slight irritation.

"I can see that," She hissed, her voice uneven and sharp, a sound that reminded Cara of gravel in a blender. The old woman's skin held an innumerable number of wrinkles and her thin, grey hair was placed in a bun high on her head. She had high cheek bones that stuck out like handlebars and she was so thin she looked like she could snap apart at any moment.

Cara did her best to not roll her eyes at the old woman. For the Douglas' being so nice, it was strange for them to have such a horrid woman in their employment. "Well I'm going to my room then." She muttered, mostly to herself, not that Ms. Locke was paying any attention to her anyways.

So Cara climbed up the old, creaky stairs and turned into the first bedroom on the left; her room. A large, fore poster bed sat in the middle of the far wall and two wooden nightstands stood on either side. There was an old, elegant wooden wardrobe in the corner that held all of Cara's clothes and the wall opposite from it was covered in a single window. Over the window was a lace curtain, and over that, currently tied back, were thick black-out curtains. Cara sat down at the vanity next to the door. The mirror reflected back her tired face; she yawned.

The next thing she knew, something was slamming on her door. "Wake up!" An aggravated voice called through the door. "You're not about to sleep the day away!" It was Ms. Locke. Cara blinked drowsily. She had fallen asleep at the vanity and her pale cheek was now dark red from sleeping on the wood. She stumbled over to the door and opened it. The housekeeper greeted her with a glare as she took a wrinkled finger and shook it in her face. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She barked. "It's almost evening! The Douglas' said they called you and called you and you never answered!" The woman took her hand out of Cara's face and placed it on her temple; she was obviously annoyed at having to deliver the wake up call. "Get dressed and go over to the Hill! It's time for dinner." With that Ms. Locke walked away in a huff and Cara was left holding in a slight chuckle. People's anger never ceased to amuse her.

Cara couldn't believe how long she had slept; her head was pounding from her awkward sleeping position and her back ached. She took off her clothes from the day before (she hadn't even bothered to change, she must have been more tired than she thought) and she changed into a simple pink shirt and jeans. She looked in the mirror, frowning at the ring of black makeup around her eyes. Quickly, Cara washed her face and reapplied her makeup before braiding her long hair and running out the door, Ms. Locke was again on the couch sewing.

Dinner was just as it had been the night before. Mrs. Douglas refused to stop talking and Mr. Douglas continued his lame jokes all while Cara nervously sat there picking at her food. She excused herself early again and leisurely walked back to the Lodge to grab her soccer ball because she decided to practice a bit before it was to dark.

The sun was already setting when she had retrieved her ball from the house and she practiced her dribbling and kicking in the dim light.

A branch cracked behind her.

She turned, surprised to see two figures walking towards her. Cara held the soccer ball as they approached, she was ready to throw it and make a get away. "Hello there," One of the figures said. Both were wearing black cloaks.

"Hello." Cara responded, eyeing them both suspiciously. She did remember the Douglas' mentioning gypsies wandering their land once in a blue moon (Cara didn't take them too seriously because she didn't think gypsies still existed).

"What are you doing?" The one who was speaking was tall and slender with a youthful voice that contradicted his intimidating appearance. Cara thought this boy couldn't be older than herself. The other was also obviously male but he was a bit shorter and more stout, both had their hoods pulled down over their faces.

Cara looked at the soccer ball in her hands and held it up for them both to see. "Um, I'm play soccer." She said, thinking it was obvious. Both the cloaked men chuckled to themselves and Cara could feel a bit of anger burning inside her, who were they to laugh at her?

"I see, I see," said the one as he took a step closer, one hand behind his back and the other reaching out to take hers in a handshake. "Well, Miss Soccer player," He chuckled with good-humor. "I'm Marak and this is my friend, Dosel. Mind if we join you?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Game

Part II  
The Game

Cara couldn't remember what she had been doing or where she was. She had to be dreaming. Her body tickled with a strange sensation; it felt almost as thought she was floating in nothingness. The girl couldn't tell which direction she was moving in, only that she was moving steadily along and surrounded by an inky black abyss. What had she been doing? Images of the forest appeared all around her and she watched silently as two figures stepped from the menacing shadows of the trees. There was a sudden black out and Cara was again surrounded by a void. She was dreaming.

"I'm Marak." A voice whispered.

Something was obviously not right.

Cara was actually moving. Slowly her consciousness fought for control and her eye lids fluttered open. She was still surrounded by a black nothing, but she could feel a rough fabric against her cheek and she drowsily assessed the situation. Someone was carrying her over their shoulder. The fabric must be part of that Mark's, or Marak, or whatever his name was, cloak. She was being kidnapped! With all she strength, Cara pulled her leg back and kicked the man in his chest only to fall with a crunch to the ground. Without a second to lose she scrambled to her feet and took off in a random direction. It was pitch black and the only shapes she could make out in the dim moonlight were the looming trees and the two men behind her.

A moment passed before she was tackled to the ground. She kicked and struggled with all her might but the man was much stronger than she was and held her stomach-down with ease. Cara opened her mouth to scream for help to have it shoved into the dirt and leaves on the ground, she muffled threats as she continued her thrashing in vain. She was caught. A million thoughts raced through her head at once but the one with the most weight was a curse: this is my father's fault. Cara silently cursed being sent to the European manor instead of on vacation with the rest of her family. It was her dear father's fault she was about to be kidnapped and was never to be seen again. His fault.

"Dosel!" The voice was young but commanding, and slightly out of breath. "That's enough. Please don't suffocate my wife." The body on top of Cara eased it's hold and released the back of her head. Cautiously, she lifted her face from the ground to see the outline of Marak standing in front of her as she spit earth and twigs from her mouth.

"What do you think you're doing?" the girl hissed at the man as she stopped her pointless struggling. With a nod from Marak, Dosel stood to his feet and pulled the fuming Cara with him, he still held tightly to her forearm with one strong, gloved hand.

"My, my, Cara," Marak said with a hint of sympathy in his voice. "Look at all this dirt down your front!" Cara was surprised he could see her in the faint light as he groped her shoulder with an uncharacteristically small hand and used his other, much larger hand, to wipe some dirt from her shirt. She stared at him and noticed how perfect the black fabric they were cloaked in was for camouflage because she couldn't see anything up his dark outline.

"Don't touch me," the girl said as she ripped her shoulder from his grasp. "Tell me what you want with me! Do you want money? If you're looking to get a ransom out of kidnapping me then you've got the wrong girl. My dad wouldn't pay a cent for me." She added the last statement out of spite towards her father. He would come to her rescue if she asked, but she didn't think she would even get the chance to call for him.

Marak let out a loud laugh as he replied: "You silly girl! Goblins have no need for your human money. Calm down and maybe I'll explain myself." Cara almost couldn't register what he had just said. Goblins? Like the little creatures who went around stealing babies and wearing skin-tight pants? She looked to his outline again. He certainly didn't look like David Bowie from what she could see.

"I am calm. Start explaining."

"You see, my sweet Cara, Dosel and I are goblins come to steal you away to be my bride. I am the king, you see, and I must have a bride from outside our race and I have chosen you!" He paused as though to wait for Cara to thank him for choosing her, but she didn't.

"Pull down your hood." She commanded.

"What?" The King was taken aback by the request. He had been expecting her to scream, or fight again, or at least have some questions for him.

"Pull down your hood, both of you. I want to see your faces."

The two goblins looked to each other before obeying Cara's request. Dosel removed his hood with his free hand first. His skin, no, it was more like scales, glimmered softly in the dim light while his reptilian-like eyes stared at her without a trace of emotion. Cara held her breath as his long, thin tongue hissed at her. He was certainly a goblin! Slowly, she turned to see Marak's face. The moon's light reflected off of his pallid skin (was it blue?) and his large, round eyes stared back with an unnatural yellow tint. His lips were a dark red color and his hair was raven and very long, being tied at his shoulder and cascading down to his chest. "It must be so dark for you, sweet Cara. Allow me to help you get a better look," with that Marak snapped his fingers and a silvery half circle hovered by his face. "I am very handsome for a goblin, don't you think?" The glowing orb cast light against his odd features, and as he moved it closer to his face, Cara could see that one of his hands was small and stout, almost like a paw. A shiver went down her spine as her muscles tightened in the other goblin's grip. Marak's skin was in fact blue and something was off about his eyes; the irises were larger than normal. His lips were a bright ruby red and when he smiled he revealed large canine teeth of a silvery color.

"You're-you're both monsters! Freaks!" Cara quickly twisted her forearm and ripped it from Dosel's grip before starting to run again. This time Marak was the one to catch her. He had been expecting her to pull some stunt after seeing his face and he couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"It was a game well played, sweet Cara, but you cannot escape this monster's grasp so easily. I told you, you are going to be my wife, whether or not I have your consent." Marak held her close to her chest as she twisted and turned in attempt to get away from him, but he was too strong. It was then that the glowing orb disappeared and Cara was in darkness yet again.

"Game well played?" She repeated quietly. "What if we played a game?" she spoke a little louder, looking up at his goblin face. "If I win, you find someone else to be your bride."

"And if I win?" He asked. Cara had peaked his interest.

"I'll go with you to your goblin lair or whatever it is and marry you without a fight." She searched her brain for some sort of game she could beat the goblin King at.

"Hm, it must be a game I know of. None of this 'soccer' business and what not." Cara bit her lip as the King loosened his grip on her, there went the obvious choice.

"Hide 'n' seek then!" She finally concluded. "If I can successful avoid you for two days then you have to go find a wife somewhere else, but if I lose then you can drag me back to your goblin world and I'll be your loving and faithful wife." Cara regretted making the challenge as soon as the words left her mouth but she had to do something to save herself. "Deal?" She could feel her bravery leave her as her knees started to shake and her heart started racing.

"Deal, my sweet Cara." Marak took hold of her hand with his deformed paw-hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"You can't use any magic or whatever you goblins have!" The girl added in quickly as she pulled her hand away. "It has to be you and only you!" A tear escaped from her eyes, she hadn't even been aware that she was tearing up.

Marak looked at her thoughtfully before agreeing to the condition. "And you cannot leave Hallow Lake. No jumping in your mechanical contraptions and disappearing off my land, you need to hide on goblin territory." Cara didn't want to ask how far his kingdom stretched. She didn't want to say anything else to the goblin King. She wanted to go home. "Dosel, help me take sweet Cara back to the Lodge. She will need sleep if she wants to have a chance." The King gave a wicked smile as he took Cara by one arm and Dosel grabbed her by the other arm. She stumbled between the two goblins as they lead her back to the guest house for the night. The trio walked for several minutes until the Lodge was in plain sight and that was when Marak and Dosel bid her goodbye.

"I will see you tomorrow night for our game to begin, Cara." Marak said with a toothy grin as he played with the end of his long ponytail. "Get some rest." With that, Marak kissed her forehead before disappearing into the forest with his silent companion. Cara touched her forehead where he had kissed her and shivered. She was going to beat him if it killed her.

Cara opened the door to the Lodge and stumbled in, fully ready to face the goblins coming back to drag her away, but instead she found Ms. Locke. It had to be early in the morning though the little woman was busy sewing on the couch, in the dark. "Ms. Locke! I-uh-I got lost in the forest, sorry. It won't happen agai-"

"You can save your breath; I know you've met the Goblin King. Did he choose you? He must have for you to be gone so late. How did you convince him to let you go? You're not an elf, are you?" Ms. Locke stared at the girl with large eyes. She looked so much younger than when Cara had first met her, but more importantly how did she know about the Goblin King?

"How did yo-"

"I'm a dwarf." She said plainly as she waited for her answers. "My people work under the Goblin King and I was sent to work here in case a worthy human girl arrived again." Cara stared at the woman dumbfounded. It seemed that everyone was for her marrying Marak.

"I challenged him to a game of hide 'n' seek. Now if you excuse me, I need my rest if I'm going to win." Cara raised her head proudly before walking up the stairs and into her room that faced the front of the house. She was going to win. She had to. The girl walked over to her curtains and looked out into the dark forest only to see a strange looking snake slithering in the front yard. She bit her lip before closing the thick curtain and rummaging in her suitcase for her pajamas. That night of sleep would probably be the most important of her life as she quickly changed into bright blue pajamas and crawled under the covers. The challenge was issued, and she was not losing.


	3. Chapter 3: Second Place

Because this chapter is so long, I put little page numbers so that it would be easier to read. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I love writing it! Please review!

Part III

Second Place

Cara's eye lids fluttered open as she let out a big yawn. Sunlight filtered through a gap between the curtains and a digital clock on the bedside declared that it was fifteen minutes to noon. Cara sat up lazily to survey her room. Everything was too normal for her experience the night before to be real. The girl was quickly brought out of her reveries of the prior night when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the vanity across from her bed. Her brown hair was matted to her forehead with grease and her makeup was smeared across her pink skin. She gave a look of disgust as she crawled to the edge of the bed for a closer look; she decided the first thing she would do was get a shower. As she crossed the simple stream of sunlight, however, she noticed something glisten on her forehead.

She jumped from the mattress and pressed her face against the mirror. Something was on her forehead! Cara took her hand and scrubbed at the offending mark but no matter what she did the clear mark remained intact. It could only be seen when she turned her head at just the right angle so the sun could reflect off the invisible character.

"Ms. Locke!" Cara shouted as she continued to scrub at her face. "Ms. Locke, I need you!" The door slowly swung open a moment later and a drowsy looking Ms. Locke stood in the entrance.

"It's almost noon, Cara. It's much too bright for me to be up. What do you need?" The woman spoke with a hint of malevolence in her tone as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. Cara was too preoccupied with her forehead to care that she had woken up the sleeping dwarf.

"What is this on my face?" She shrieked as she pointed to her forehead. Never once did she take her eyes off the mirror to address the woman.

"What's what?"

-1-

"This!" the girl said more forcefully as she turned to face the short creature. "There's something on my face, like, invisible ink or something!" The dwarf studied Cara's forehead carefully squinting in the direct light that was coming into the room.

"That's a Boundary Spell." She concluded. "The King is very good with them. He must have put it on you last night and you just didn't notice." Cara frowned in concentration as she turned back to the mirror.

"That cheating little…!" she started as she began rubbing her forehead with more vigor. "Our deal was that he couldn't use magic!" Ms. Locke turned a fiery glare towards the girl before reaching up to grab Cara's hand from her face.

"The spell just keeps you on goblin territory!" she snapped. "If I was Marak, I would have dragged you into the caves kicking and screaming last night and not even humored you with the idea of a challenge! Honestly!" Ms. Locke threw her hands in the air before stomping out of Cara's room and back into her own to continue sleeping. Cara's eye brows shot up in concern, the loyalty Ms. Locke felt for the King was astounding. She had only barely escaped being dragged away with the goblin King! The girl let out a deep sigh as she fell to the stool at the vanity, and only when she caught sight of her reflection again did she stand up and head for the bathroom connected to her bedroom.

After Cara took a long, hot shower she set to work on her hair and makeup. She felt a bit silly for worrying so much about how she looked after everything that had happened, however she concluded that she was still a girl and she had to make the Douglas' believe that nothing had changed. The girl decided she would go to the Hill when she was all ready to see if she could get any information out of Mr. Douglas about the goblins, and maybe a way to avoid them. Cara took her time picking out her clothes when she was done blow-drying her hair and applying her makeup; she had been very careful to cover the Boundary spell on her forehead with foundation. She didn't know how long she would be at the Hill so she didn't know if she dress for that night or just wear her normal clothes. Lips pursed the girl studied the tee-shirts and jeans that she had on her bed before deciding on a simple black v neck and a pair of dark grey sweatpants. The outfit was a little too dark for so early in the afternoon, but she didn't want to take any chances being seen if night fell too quickly.

-2-

Cara walked the long gravel path to the Hill when she had finished dressing, wishing silently that she had brought a hat to Europe to cover the character on her forehead even more. The trees were looming on one side of the path and a gentle breeze blew across the open fields on the other side. The feeling the young girl got as she walked was one that said she was in a magical place that wasn't affected by time. The air was crisp and clean with sweet scents that teased Cara's nostrils and the sun was bright in the cloudless sky. There didn't seem to be many animals about, but small squirrels ran through the trees and insects were aplenty. Then Cara noticed another surprise undoubtedly from her goblin suitor: an unusually large rabbit stared at her from under the shade of a nearby tree. Its fur was a bright blond and it had big, round eyes of an unnatural blue hue. Cara took another step and the rabbit lifted its ears and sat up as though it were ready to follow her.

"Uh, can I help you, little fella?" Cara felt ridiculous for talking to a bunny rabbit, but stranger things had happened in the last several hours.

"I am assigned to guard you until sundown!" It chirped back in a high-pitched voice that reminded Cara of a child. "Marak told me not to let you out of my sight until it was almost dark." The rabbit sat up and puffed out its chest proudly. "I will protect you from harm until your game starts!" it continued happily. Cara only watched it as it spoke. With the computer graphics they had in movies nowadays it wasn't that bizarre for the creature to move its lips so flawlessly as it spoke.

"So, what is your name? If you're my guard we might as well acquaint ourselves with each other." The girl couldn't believe she was attempting to be friendly to a guard from the goblin kingdom, but she might learn a thing or two about the creatures from the rabbit.

"I'm Eleanor!" The rabbit said as she stood to her hind legs and gave a graceful curtsey. "I'm not actually a member of the Goblin Guard, but I am quite skilled with magic so the King has trusted me with your safety." Cara bit her lip as she watched Eleanor.

-3-

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Eleanor, I'm Cara, but I suppose you already know that." Cara extended a single finger for Eleanor to shake in greeting. "So, Eleanor, uh, did your King tell you why he wanted me to be his wife?" Cara was now sitting with her back on the tree next to the rabbit shaped goblin.

"Well, Marak needs a wife." Eleanor said patiently as though the fact was obvious.

"So why doesn't he just marry another goblin is what I'm wondering."

"Oh no! He couldn't do that. The King always marries a woman from another race. Only beautiful human girls or elves for the King, although it's only been elves for the last hundred and fifty years or so," Eleanor sat back on her belly and went back to appearing like a normal bunny. "I really shouldn't be talking to you this much though." She said unhappily. "Marak said I was just supposed to guard you and he might be angry if I tell you too much…"

Cara pursed her lips in irritation. "He wants to marry me but he doesn't want me to know anything about what's going on? That doesn't make sense!"

"Don't misunderstand me, Cara. Marak will want to answer your questions himself, after the King's Wife Ceremony of course."

"Well, you can just tell Mark –"

"Marak," Eleanor corrected tolerantly.

"You can just tell Marak that I'm not interested in being his wife and there's no way that I'm going to let him win our game. Tell him I said that I'm going to do everything in my power to win." With that, Cara stood up and stomped the rest of the way to the Hill, Eleanor following behind her in the shade of the tall trees.

Mr. Douglas was sitting in his office when Cara came in. It was clear that Eleanor was going to watch her from the windows, so the young girl made an effort to avoid being too close to one while still appearing to be relaxed. Mr. Douglas' office had a large wooden desk in the center of one wall and long bookcases covering the majority of the rest of the walls leaving only enough room for a tall window and door. A large painting of a red-headed girl hung directly behind his desk and Cara couldn't help but notice how unnaturally beautiful she was. Mr. Douglas had books scattered on his desk and several papers thrown about while he sat reading his computer screen with his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

-4-

"Oh, hello, Cara, what a nice surprise! I didn't expect to see you until dinner this evening. Is everything alright? Are you keeping yourself occupied?" He looked at the girl as she walked in and surveyed the room.

"Yah, everything is great. Sorry, I just came over to see if I could borrow your computer for a minute. I want to send an email to my parents, if that's okay with you of course." Cara looked at him with her most innocent and natural expression so he wouldn't suspect she was going to try to get information out of him.

"Oh, of course. Hold on, just let me get rid of this and this," he said as he clicked at the screen before turning back to the seventeen year old. "Here you go." Cara quickly thanked him as he stood up from his rolling leather chair and ushered her into it. She clicked on the Internet icon and logged into her email before starting to type out an email to her parents.

"The tree circle was probably my favorite part so far," Cara said with a smile. "What was that legend behind it? My dad would love to know the folklore of the area." Mr. Douglas gave her a grin as he sat in a chair next to one of the bookcases.

"Ha, I knew you would want to hear the story. It's very interesting, if nothing it's entertaining," he started. "You see, there have always been rumors behind the mystery of the two tree circles and as you undoubtedly noticed it's a very special place. Once many, many years ago the owner of this house decided to build a romantic gazebo for him and his lover to share but every night the construction would be destroyed. So after several nights of this, he hired twice as many workers to get it done in one day and guarded it all night with twenty armed men. But, when he and his men woke up in the morning they were floating along in the lake with pieces of the gazebo, it seems they all fell asleep at the same time.

-5-

It's funny when you think about how frustrating it must have been, but ever since that day there have been strange superstitions surrounding the tree circle. Some say that Goblins and Elves roam these lands, and if you ask me there must be, and that's where they meet on full moons. Years later the some scholars said that some druids must have built the circle, but that doesn't make any sense to me." Mr. Douglas paused for a moment and took a leather bond book from one of the many shelves. "A man named Hugh Roberts attempted to write everything down in this book about this land in the nineteen hundreds." He paused to thumb through the pages before stopping and reading for a moment. "He starts out very logical, organizing all the history of Hallow Hill in a very clean way. But, near the end of the book he starts to write about how his young cousin believed that Goblins had told her that they were going to kidnap her and that they had made the circle with their magical powers and whatnot."

"What did he write after that? Did his cousin get taken or was it just a joke?" Cara prayed that the girl had escaped and that the volume had something written about how she did it.

"It seems we will never know, you see, not long after he entered the passage about his cousin and her mental state he died. In a very unnatural way I might add." Cara didn't think she wanted to know. Goblins must have gotten to him when he tried to protect his cousin from being dragged into their caves. "The next page is in a different handwriting that says the author of this book, Mr. Roberts, was found hanging upside down."

"Upside down?" Cara repeated.

"Upside down," Mr. Douglas confirmed. "That's all it says. He died from hanging upside down. Now, that could mean that he was murdered and then hung by his feet, but that's all the book tells us." Cara took a moment to absorb the information.

"So do you know anything else about the goblins and elves?" Cara hadn't encountered any elves, but if they were anything like how Tolkien described them she didn't think she would need to worry should she meet one.

-6-

"Well, there have been many other legends about young girls disappearing after dark and the people in the surrounding village concluded that goblins were kidnapping them to bare their children in the caves beneath the lake." The man paused to gather his thoughts. "They said that goblins couldn't see in the daytime so girls weren't allowed outside after dark, but there haven't been any disappearances in the over one hundred or so years-at least none recorded-so people let the goblin story die. However, when some people wanted to chop down the forest around here their machines just broke or they couldn't chop through the trees. This manor is actually very popular with ghost hunters and tourists." He stopped before adding: "I really don't think I've read much about any elves though. It's just a simple legend."

Cara ran her fingers through her long brown hair absently. She didn't learn anything about the goblins except that they don't like sunlight and she assumed that was obvious. Biting her lips she went back to her email only to see that she had a new message from her father. The girl clicked the message to see that it had four simple words: I hope you're behaving.

Cara furrowed her brow and clenched her fist under the desk to hide her anger. Who was he to say that to her? She was stuck in a game of cat and mouse with a mythical beast all because of him and all he could think about was how she was behaving! With an angry click she closed out of her email and quickly thanked Mr. Douglas for all his help before leaving the room. She wandered angrily around the Hall until it was time for dinner and by this time she had made up her mind: she was going to go with the Goblin King to marry him just to spite her father. Cara could see his face when the Douglas' told him that his youngest daughter had just disappeared, that look would be worth an eternity of living with hideous goblins in a cave. Besides, she would be their queen and being queen over a race of mythical monsters sounded much more fun than dealing with her father.

-7-

The sun had just started to set when Cara finished her dinner and headed outside. It was almost time for the game to begin. When she left the house she heard someone call to her: "Pst!" the voice said. "Pst, Cara! Over here!" Cara looked to her left and then to her right to see Eleanor the rabbit again. The girl slowly walked over to the bunny full expecting Marak to jump from the growing shadows to pull her away, and she would go without a fight.

"Hello, Eleanor, where's Marak?" Cara asked as she put her hands on her knees to be closer to the bunny.

"The King is waiting for you at the truce circle! I delivered your message to him and he says that he is looking forward to the challenge and cannot wait to marry you." Eleanor spoke proudly as though she was copying the King's tone as well. "I am to escort you to him right now for you two to begin your game." Cara felt a stab of anger. Marak was taunting her. Her competitive nature completely blocked out the anger she felt towards her father and she was once again ready to beat the goblin King. Cara was distracted from her thoughts however when Eleanor started to grow and change in shape. Where a large blond rabbit had been sitting now stood a pretty blond girl wearing a black cloak and a blue, old-fashion dress. Cara stared in awe.

"Eleanor?" She asked still not able to believe her eyes. The blond nodded her head and gave a kind smile.

"I'm very strange looking for a goblin because of all the elf blood in me, but I'm very good with elfish magic!" Her eyes were shaped like almonds and had bright blue irises while her skin was white and smooth. Her lips were pale as well as her blond hair, which was to the small of her neck in the back only to reach a few inches above her shoulders in the front. "It's dark now and I need to protect you in case any elves happen to be about. I'm much better with magic when I have opposable thumbs." Cara was shocked by the transformation; however she felt relieved as well. That meant that all goblins weren't hideous monsters! "Let's be going."

-8-

Cara followed the Eleanor around the Hill, through the forest, and into the truce circle behind the Lodge. She stopped outside of the first row of circles to gather her nerves before turning to thank the goblin girl only to see Eleanor bow and turn back into a bunny hopping away into some bushes and out of sight. Cara watched thoughtfully after the rabbit for a moment before squeezing past the two rows of ancient trees and into the middle of the circle.

Marak sat against the trunk of one of the great trees on the opposite side of the truce circle. He wore his black cloak along with a loose black shirt and black breeches tucked into his equally black boots. His long black hair was still tied at his shoulder but now Cara could see his long, pointed blue ears as well. Dark red lips curled into a smile as he stood up and walked to the shaking Cara, who was still standing because her competitive spirit refused to let her pass out from fright.

"Cara, my sweet, "Marak said as he touched her face with his small hand, only this time he wasn't wearing a glove. He didn't touch her with a hand, but with a large paw and it wasn't covered in fur, the logical choice, but was instead covered in dark grey feathers that went down to his elbow before disappearing under the sleeve of his shirt. Cara shuddered as he pulled his paw away. "I am so terribly excited to see what you have planned for our little game tonight." He gave her a toothy grin to show off his long canine teeth.

"You're very smug," Cara replied. "I think that I might surprise you with my resourcefulness." That was a bluff. Deep down the girl knew she was going to lose, and while one part of her hoped to fail to spite her father, the other part wanted to give the goblin King a run for his money. "The rules are that you can't use your magic or your goblin minions to find me and capture me and I am not allowed to leave your territory," she added the last fragment to spite him as she thought of the character written on her forehead. "The game is hide 'n' seek," she continued, "I will hide on your land and you have to find me and tag me to win, you have two days to catch me." Marak nodded in agreement.

-9-

"I should warn you that I am very dominantly elf and I have excellent tracking skills because of it." Cara felt a lump rise in her throat. This was going to be a short game after all. "I will count to two hundred to give you a fair head start." The girl didn't wait for him to start counting before she took off running out of the tree circle and into the forest. Should she hide in her room? No, that would be the obvious choice; she would run into the forest towards the lake and find something to conceal her.

Because of her soccer training, Cara was a fast runner and found herself far from the Lodge and hopefully far from the goblin King. Shrubs and trees were all that the girl could see in every direction and the dim light didn't help her. It was always fun to play in the dark when she was younger but now that so much was on the line and she was in an unfamiliar setting it was terrifying. Faintly she could hear Marak shout to signal he was done with his counting. She looked around. Not a real hiding place within sight (which wasn't very far considering the moon was rapidly rising in the background and the trees were casting inky shadows over everything).

"Ready or not!" She heard again. Cara's heart was racing. This was a horrible idea. She should have just let him drag her away to save herself from all the trouble now. That's when she got an idea. The girl jumped onto the nearest tree and carefully shimmied to the lowest branch. Next she pulled herself up and continued to shimmy up the great tree with this method until she was worried the next branch wouldn't be able to hold her weight. Looking down she could see the ground was probably about a hundred feet away; she was only able to climb so high because she had spent her childhood practicing on an old oak in their front yard.

Cara held her breath as she pressed her body against the tree's trunk and attempted to hide behind some scattered leaves. Marak wasn't far from her tree and he was moving cautiously as though trying to find a trace of her. He walked right passed her tree. Cara smiled to herself when he had kept going; maybe she had a chance at winning this game!

-10-

Minutes turned into hours. Cara wasn't sure how long she had been waiting for the goblin to come back but she was starting to feel drowsy while she sat in the tree. More time passed until Cara couldn't keep her eyes open. Normally staying awake wouldn't bother her but being stuck in a tree with nothing to do was taking its toll. She nodded off for a moment only to quickly wake herself up. The next time she fell asleep she wasn't so lucky however. Cara's eyes closed and for a moment everything was calm, until her body relaxed and she fell from her hiding spot. Her eyes burst open to see the sky getting farther and farther away and that meant the ground was getting closer. She wasn't one to scream and because it only lasted a moment she couldn't cry out for help. The girl expected to hit the ground with a shattering crack but she stopped falling she landed with a thunk into someone's strong arms.

"A good hunter waits until his prey comes to him," Marak said coolly. Cara looked up at his face, he had been waiting for her to move from her tree top hiding spot and when she had fallen he had caught her. "It seems that you have achieved second place, wife."


	4. Chapter 4: Bride's Maids

_**Part IV Bride's Maids**_

Cara felt a wide array of emotions in just a few short seconds. She felt victory over her father's bullying and defeat in her bet with the goblin King, a nagging sense of worry and anxiousness from being taken to live in a cave with monsters but excitement because she was going to be their queen. A tear escaped from her honey colored eyes and Marak watched it thoughtfully as he held her in his arms bridal style. Cara didn't object as the goblin started to walk farther and farther in to the forest, she had lost and she knew there was nothing she could do about it anymore. A wave of relief filled her body, only to be replaced by a feeling of dread.

"You did better than I expected you to," Marak said after a moment of walking, Cara was amazed he could carry her so easily. She however didn't know how to respond to his compliment. "You would have had me stumped for a few minutes if you had not made such a mess with the leaves beneath the tree. As soon as I passed by I could tell what you had done." Cara mentally kicked herself over such a simple mistake.

"What's your kingdom like?" She asked thoughtfully after a minute of silence. Marak chuckled in the darkness and Cara pressed her head into his chest to listen.

"It is the most beautiful place you could ever hope to see," he responded. "Over time, I am sure you will learn to love the caves and all the subjects that dwell there." Cara seemed content with his answer as she bit her lip. Would the goblin kingdom look at all like _The Labyrinth_ depicted? If so, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad place to live.

"What do the goblins that live there look like? That Eleanor rabbit girl seemed normal and your features aren't exactly… ugly," Cara looked up at the King's face in the dim light of the moon. His nose wasn't particularly large or long and his mouth wasn't too big or small for his face. If he didn't have all his goblin traits he would be an okay looking man, however the addition of the unusual skin color, pointed ears, large, yellow eyes, and ruby red lips that hid silver fangs made him very creepy, not mention the menacing paw covered in feathers that now held her. Cara stopped looking at his face and turned her attention to his hair as they continued to walk along leisurely. "You have really nice hair," she mumbled into his chest.

"Goblins can look like almost anything," Marak started with a titter. "Beast goblins can mate with almost any animal if they find strength there, and once the trait has entered the goblin society it can show up anywhere." Cara braiding the end of his ponytail as he held her close, she was coping with the loss of everything she held dear very well. Marak didn't comment on her strength however in fear that she would crack like so many other captured brides. "Eleanor is part of the high class of goblin society. They tend to look more like people, but Eleanor is an especially rare case. Every now and again there is a goblin who looks almost human, and that is because since 1854 we have had plenty of elf brides mixed in with higher society. I am so…," he paused as if trying to find the right word in English. "I am so _normal_ looking because we have had an elf bride since Marak Sixfingers ruled which was very early in the nineteen hundreds." Cara was about to ask why he had chosen to marry her, a mere human, but he interrupted her. "We are almost home."

Cara looked up from the goblin's chest. There were still trees for as far as her eyes could see, there wasn't a cave in sight. Slowly she noticed that they were sinking into the ground. With each step that Marak took, Cara could see the ground getting closer. Soon his feet disappeared below the earth, then his knees and waist and soon she was starting to sink into the ground with him. She reached a hand out and touched the ground. It still felt completely solid, until she touched it again and she hand began to sink with the rest of her. The girl couldn't believe that she was so calm in the presence of magic but she blamed the indifference to all the movies she had seen. Nothing was surprising in the day and age of computer graphics and green screens.

After a minute, both the goblin and the girl were in an underground tunnel lined with floating, circular lamps that gave off a dim glow. The tunnel stretched for as far as the eye could see in one direction and lead to an iron door in the other. The door slowly opened and Marak entered, still carrying his stolen bride. Large crystals lined the walls and protruded from the ground. Each crystal reflected back the pair walking along as though there were a hundred mirrors in the tunnel. Cara moaned and closed her eyes. Watching herself from so many different angles and degrees was making her feel sick to her stomach.

"Oh, forgive me," Marak said as Cara hid her face in his chest. "This tunnel can be hard to handle if you are not used to it. Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them." The girl was going to protest and tell him to not order her around but when she opened her mouth she almost puked and therefore decided against giving the King a piece of her mind.

"Hello, King." A voice boomed in the tunnel and echoed off of the large crystals in stereo. "Good luck with your marriage tonight." The goblin King chuckled as metal screeched open in front of them. As they walked through the door Cara opened her eyes and peaked back but she couldn't find anyone in the tunnel or around them that the voice could belong to.

They were now on an upward slant in a plain tunnel again Marak told Cara she could open her eyes again. "This is the lowest level of my kingdom," he said. "The higher up we go the more beautiful it becomes. I promise you will like it." The girl looked about at the dull walls, it was very dim even with the scattered lamps and Cara had to strain her eyes to see the stairs built in the rock and the ceiling start to get higher. As Marak continued his climb, the girl noticed a small mosaic butterfly on the wall. That butterfly continued up the stairs gently fluttering its wings in the stone. More magic. The butterfly was joined by jade grass and tall trees pieced together with dark stones until it seemed the walls were a forest swaying in a calm breeze.

"Oh wow," Cara started as she struggled in his grasp. Marak set her down on her feet concluding that she had nowhere to run from him. The seventeen year old looked at the mosaic pictures on the stone walls feeling the uneven texture with her hand. As she touched the picture, the leaves on the tree crumbled back as though someone had thrown an invisible stone at it. Cara quickly pulled her hand away with wide eyes before turning her attention to a small squirrel that was running up a tree. With a single finger she stroked the imaginary creature and it responded as though it was being petted like a cat. Cara smiled as she turned to Marak. "Is the rest of the kingdom like this?" She motioned to the walls for emphasis. "How did you _do_ this?" Marak chuckled as he grabbed her hand and continued to walk up the stairs.

"The dwarves love to work with stone and enchantments that are aesthetically pleasing, and after they ran out of practical work around the kingdom they started to decorate all the walls with their charmed works of art." Marak ran his fingers along the cool surface of the stone walls as Cara continued to gaze at them in the dim light. "The elves that stay with us enjoy the scenes as well, they do not like being underground away from nature, you see." A deer was now in the picture and it followed closely to Cara who reached out to caress it.

"Ms. Locke is a dwarf too, right? So can she do all this stuff?" Marak shook his head, his long ponytail falling behind his back until he corrected with his paw.

"Ms. Locke, or rather Agora is her real name, never had much talent for creating beauty with stones but she took care of me as a child so I entrusted her with finding a bride for me above ground." Marak looked thoughtfully for a moment. "She is not as bitter as she seems, sweet Cara. After the ceremony that makes you my wife, I guarantee she will be much kinder to you." He chuckled again and the girl was starting to enjoy hearing his laugh. It was loud and clear and very unique to the raven haired goblin whereas instead of a 'ha ha' it was more of a 'ha heh ha ha.'

"What is the ceremony like?" Cara wondered as she looked at his human hand holding her own. Marak stopped laughing as he thought of how he should word his answer.

"It is very unpleasant." He concluded. The girl was going to press for more details but she stopped in her tracks. A large creature stood on the path with long spindly legs and two horns on his nose. He was not clothed like Marak was and bowed awkwardly as he saw the King. Marak pulled on Cara's hand to pull her up the stairs with him but her feet were frozen in place. The tall goblin stared at her with white eyes until Cara started to run up the steps with Marak still holding her hand, attempting to slow her down. Another goblin appeared, along with doors and openings on the staircase, and another, each more hideous and revolting than the last. One had large ears and a large nose with giant body while another was only a few feet tall with wide eyes that stared at the running girl with black irises. Marak was finally able to slow his frightened bride down, but when he did she was mumbling incoherently and refused to look at him. She had cracked just like all the other captured brides. "Cara! Cara, you look at me!" He said sternly and the girl obeyed even though she didn't want to. "Please calm down; you are only going to tire yourself out before the ceremony. I promise that it will get easier to deal with the …uniqueness of my subjects." A rush of tranquility washed over the girl and she could once again speak clearly.

"I'm already tired, Marak!" She shook her head. "Please, let me go to sleep. I don't know if I can deal with everything right now, I'm just very confused and so, so tired!" A very short goblin with a nose like an elephant scurried past her and she let out a yelp as she jumped into Marak's arms. He was the only familiar (and somewhat normal) face and she welcomed him.

"We had a deal, my sweet Cara. You can sleep after the ceremony but it needs to take place tonight, right now." Marak didn't show any expression as he picked her up by the waist and kept walking up the stairs until they had reached the top. Cara moaned and yelped with each creature that passed by before closing her eyes tightly. When she had opened them again she was in a simple stone room with a simple stone table. On the table was a goblet with a strange lip and four bracelets. She and Marak were alone yet again and the door was shut behind them.

"Is this the ceremony? What's this?" Cara lifted the goblet to smell the liquid inside.

"This is the start of the ceremony. That drink will take away your voice so you cannot curse me, and these bracelets will stop you from using your powers, that is if you had any." The King leaned against the stone table as he watched her. "You need to drink that, or I will have to force it down your throat." Cara gave him an indignant glare. She couldn't decide if the goblin was kind or unfeeling.

"I don't have any magical powers," she said as she lowered the cup. "At least none that I know about." Marak shook his head.

"It is a precaution. If an elf bride is chosen, her magic could be dangerous to me and my subjects, or even the elf herself. Even if you do not have magic you have to drink it, or it will be forced down your throat. That is what the lip is for." Cara bit her lip before gulping down the drink, secretly admiring the goblins for their safeguards. She didn't feel any different after she drank the magic drink but when she opened her mouth to say so nothing came out. "See? That was not too hard." Marak chuckled as Cara touched her throat and tried to speak. "Please sit down; I need to put these on you before you go into the next chamber. There will be some goblin women who will work on your hair and such." The girl sat on the small stool as Marak took a golden circle from the table and put it around her wrist. She examined the bracelet but it was a simple circle, a complete circle, and it then shrank to fit her wrist perfectly. More magic. Marak continued to put the other bracelet on the other wrist and then took off her shoes, Cara opened her mouth to object, but he already had both her shoes and socks off and the bracelets on her ankles. "Now please go into the next chamber, and remember that you made a deal and lost. The ceremony is very unpleasant, however if only lasts a few minutes and after it you may sleep for as long as your heart desires, and please do your best to be civil about it." With that Marak opened a door across the room and ushered her in, closing it behind her.

A wave of panic struck Cara as she looked at all the goblin women. They all looked very excited as they took her by the arms and undressed her (something Cara did not appreciate and she tried to cover herself with her arms). She was forced into a golden tub full of hot water and the monstrous women scrubbed her from head to toe. None of them ever spoke to her but instead they all spoke a strange, guttural language to each other. Cara felt like a doll. She was pulled from the tub, covered with towels and led her to a stone couch where some women went to work on drying and combing her hair, others started on her makeup, and more trimmed her toenails and polished her fingernails. The girl felt like she was being pampered for prom.

Cara took a few moments to reflect as the hideous women of all shapes and sizes worked on her. She was about to be married to a goblin. A mythical creature had brought her into caves underground, and although the caves were beautiful (even the chamber she was in had mosaic scenes enchanted on its walls) she was going to spend the rest of her life away from her family and friends. She had gotten what she wanted. Her father would be horrified when the Douglas' noticed she was missing and Ms. Locke would probably make up some story to cover the goblins tracks. Cara wanted her father to be sorry for sending her away and he was going to be. She looked at the positive side of her situation. Adventure was something that she cherished and she was on a very big adventure now. Not only was she getting married at her tender young age but she was going to be a queen. The girl opened one eye to watch the hideous beasts work on her. She was going to be the most beautiful creature in the caves, she concluded, and her confidence was ignited. The only down side to being the queen of goblins was that she was going to have to sleep with one to continue the race. A shiver went down her spine.

The activity around her changed. She opened her eyes cautiously to see a small, very old goblin woman with eyes like dinner plates. The little creature had a paintbrush and a small amount of black paint and began to paint strange characters on Cara's arm. The letters went in a straight line down her limb and she couldn't help but notice how cold the paint felt to the touch. Once the goblin woman finished one line she picked up a bottle and sprinkled oil onto Cara's arm. Two of the characters faded from black to gold. The goblin picked up the brush again and kept writing on the next row, dotting it with oil when she was done and going on again. In each row at least one character turned gold after the oil was dashed. The women around her were squealing with delight and Cara figured it must have been a test and she was acing it.

After the old goblin had finished writing on Cara's arm she stepped away and the other women got back to work. They dried her hair and wove ribbons into it while more women helped Cara into old-fashioned undergarments that covered much more than the girl was used to. She could see out of the corner of her eye that some of the goblins were examining the clothes she had come in with perplexed looks before one summoned fire to her hand and she promptly burnt them to ashes. Cara's eyes got wide but she calmed herself down, she would have new clothes to go with her new life. Finally, two of the women took her by her elbows and helped her into her dress.

A mirror was brought out in to her and Cara stared in horror at her wedding dress. One woman fussed with the seams of the golden bodice because it was too small for Cara's chest and needed to be let out, which it was with the help of magic. The skirt was a twisted mass of red silk and her hair was tied with twenty or more ribbons while one strand of hair remained on her neck. Cara tried to fix the single strand but a woman with a face like a dog stopped her and led her away from the mirror to the door.

It was time for her wedding.


	5. Chapter 5: The First Night

_**A word from the Author: Thank you so much for reading Enchanted by the Beast. It means so much that I am actually getting some reviews! Please comment and favorite and don't be afraid to let me know how to make my story better! Forgive me because this chapter is a bit shorter, but hopefully I'll be working towards finishing this story during the summer. Thank you!**_

_**Part V: First Night**_

Marak was right. The King's Wife ceremony had been very unpleasant to say the least. Cara kept her eyes open wide throughout the ceremony so the goblin King was never out of her sight. Marak had cut her and poured her blood into a basin, causing Cara to assume that she was part of a pagan ritual to summon the devil and she silently begged and pleaded with God to forgive her for any unintentional unrighteousness. It all seemed like a distant memory now as she sat in a small room with her goblin husband, shaking. Cara was staring at scars on her hands; they were wounds that her new husband had inflicted during the Ceremony. A straight line now divided each hand down the center, more scars to add to the young soccer player's collection.

"You did fairly well, all things considered," Marak was watching Cara with an amused countenance. Cara wanted to give him a sassy reply but all that resulted was a pathetic whimper. The goblin chuckled before handing his wife a goblet from a small side table. She looked at him warily before taking a gulp and coughing violently. Cara thought if magic had a taste it would taste like the drink.

"That was disgusting," Cara muttered angrily referring to the Ceremony. "When you said it was unpleasant I assumed you just meant marrying you would be unpleasant! I didn't think you would cut me open and then try to behead me!" Marak responded with a fit of laughter which only fueled his young bride's anger.

"That sword is a powerful charm to protect you. I did not attempt to kill you, sweet Cara." He took his paw and touched her shoulders and chest as if tracing something. "I cut your hands to see how long our lives will be, and I did heal them almost immediately, I might add. See?" He took hold of her left hand with his unnatural paw and traced the scar with his human hand. "It says that you will have a long life." Marak deciphered before he took hold of her other hand. "This hand says that I will also have a long life," he examined it more closely. "It has been ages since the scars have been this long. The last three generations of Kings have had much shorter reigns, hopefully things are returning to normal." Cara had decided to stop listening halfway through Marak's speech. She didn't care about how long they were going to live at the moment, she was more concerned that it was their wedding night and certain things were supposed to happen.

"Marak," Cara started, bringing the King out of his thoughts. "Are we going to have sex tonight?" Marak again burst out laughing; tears were spilling from his eyes as he attempted to regain his composure. Cara's face turned an angry hue of red. She failed to see the humor in her question.

"My, my, sweet Cara, you certainly get to the point. I like that about you." He took one of her hands and gently stroked it as Cara gave him an indignant glare. "To answer your question; most likely not, creating the Heir is harder than just having intercourse. Unlike humans, goblins take a long time to conceive and it is especially hard for the King. I have to find things about you that I admire, like your wonderful eyes or your plucky spirit, and my feelings for you will affect the Heir. The stronger my feelings for you then the stronger the Heir will be. You, of course, contribute just as much. The best Kings come from wives who settle into goblin life." Marak paused, studying the face of his young bride and stroking her cheek. Cara's expression had softened as well. Did she admire anything about her new husband? She scanned his face lost in her own thoughts. She loved his long, black hair and thought he was quite romantic looking with the satin bow tied as his shoulder, she also realized that she enjoyed his powerful laugh. "That is one of the reasons I chose you and not a silly elf."

"Wait, what?"  
"Elves have an especially hard time adjusting to our lifestyles and as a result the last several Kings have been weaker." His tall, blue ears darkened. He was blushing. "I am not a very powerful King, you see, sweet Cara. My magic has a bit of a mind of its own and some of the simplest spells are hard for me to accomplish correctly because of it. That is why I chose you. I knew that you would the ideal King's Wife." Cara touched her goblin husband's hair reluctantly as though to comfort him. "Human brides can adjust better than elves and that means that our son will be a better King."

Cara absorbed the information silently before speaking up again, "You know, having sex is not only about having a baby. It's something husbands and wives do to become 'one'. Leave and cleave, right?" She didn't know why she was arguing for them sleeping together because she was very much against it. Marak was helpless with laughter yet again.

"I had assumed that you were not interested in that yet, but if you would like to then we can go to our room now." He was teasing her in between his uncontrolled chortles. The girl felt her blood go hot again. Her husband was laughing at her!

"Maybe that is what I'm saying!" She blurted angrily as she stood up and paced heatedly around the small room. Marak had stopped laughing and stared at his wife dumbfounded. He stood up to join her taking hold of both of her hands as she continued to stare at the ground.

"You must be so tired, sweet Cara," he said softly as he brushed her forehead with his lips. "I promised you could sleep after our wedding and you should do that. This is a lot for you to process and your stress seems to be getting the better of you." Cara sighed heavily as she felt her husband's hot breath against her skin. She was tired but so much had happened that she didn't think she could sleep. "Would you like to sleep with me in our bed or stay here for the night? When wives have a particularly hard time adjusting they stay in this room for a night or two." Cara bit her lip as she looked at the small room. It had a bed, an uncomfortable couch and a small table. The walls were bare from the elaborate decorations and it gave off a vibe that for some strange reason reminded Cara of a prison.

"I think I would prefer our room." She said after a moment and the King took her hand to lead her to the Royal Rooms.

When the couple had arrived at their destination several moments, and many stairs later, Cara was taken aback. The room was large and lousy with decorations and mosaics covering every inch of the walls and floors. There were two beds in the room, one was large with expensive red covers while the other was smaller and sat alone against another wall. The girl was far too weary to ask why they had two beds if they were supposed to be married. There was an opening in one of the walls that led to a large closet and a full body three-way mirror stood next to it. It was a room that was fit for a king and it now belonged to her and her ghastly husband.

"We have not had a chance to make you any new clothes yet, so you will have to settle with borrowing something of mine to sleep in tonight." Marak lead Cara to the bed as he moved into the closet and began to rummage through racks of clothes. He appeared a moment later with a simple dark blue shirt made of an expensive fabric and handed it to his wife. "You can wear that," he said as he started to unbutton his own shirt. Cara stared at the shirt in her hands and then to her red wedding dress she was wearing, and then finally to her husband. Was he expecting her to change in front of him? Of course, they were married. She eyed him warily. "Oh! I will wait in the closet then," he said as he turned away with his shirt fully unbuttoned.

Cara stood at the bed biting her lip as she watched him disappear into the connected closet. She felt like a child but appreciated her husband for being a gentleman, er, gentle-goblin. With much difficulty, she removed the red and gold wedding dress and then the wired undergarment before quickly shrugging on the shirt and buttoning it up. The young bride examined herself in the mirror across from their bed when she noticed a golden head on her chest bone. She scurried closer to the mirror and pulled back the collar of her shirt for a closer look. A golden snake was coiled around her shoulders and ended with its head between her breasts. It made sense now. She had seen the snake's head when Marak's sword swung down on her, but she assumed it was just an illusion. The snake tattoo made her look like an enchanted tribal princess.

"Marak?" she called and the goblin's head poked up of the closet. His pointed ears turned a bright shade of blue at the sight of his wife and he inched closer. "Why is there a snake around my neck?" Marak chuckled before heading to their bed.

"It is the King's Wife Charm. It is the most powerful magic that goblin society has to offer and it is all to keep you safe. The snake will deliver a swift bite to anyone who threatens you and it will paralyze them until I deliver judgment on whether they live or die." Cara pursed her lips as Marak spoke, it couldn't have been magical butterfly tattoo or at least something less conspicuous? "And, if need be, it will bite you if you do something too reckless, so please be careful." His young wife nodded with a yawn.

"Psh, being careful is overrated," she said with a weak smile before sitting on the smaller bed in the room and snuggling under the covers.

Marak quietly shook his head with a frown. He was going to have interesting stories about her to write in the King's Wife Chronicles and prayed she would grow as fond of him as he was for her. "I'll sleep on this bed," the King said as he moved over to the smaller bed and shooed his wife towards the larger, more beautiful bed. "But tomorrow night we are going to sleep in the same bed, like a real couple." Cara however didn't hear him because as soon as she lay down on the main bed she was fast asleep, temporarily escaping her reality.

Cara blinked her eyes open when she heard a quiet thunk. The room was dark and for a moment she couldn't even decipher which direction she was facing. Her head pulsated with pain as she sat up waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim lights.

"Good morning."

Cara's heart was pounding as she quickly scanned the darkness for the source of the sound.

"Ha ha! It's me, Cara! Eleanor!" The goblin-elf girl sat on the edge of the bed and wore a happy expression. "You lost your game, huh? Oh well! Now you're down here with me! We can be best friends!" Cara's eyes started to adjust to the light and she could see Eleanor's blue eyes shining back at her. Eleanor wasn't wearing her black cloak like before and her abnormal "condition" could be clearly seen: her dress was cut low in the back and ended just before her hips to reveal large, bulky spines sticking out of her back that reminded Cara of a dinosaur.

"Oh, uh, yah?" the captured bride didn't know how to respond to the goblin's cheerfulness and trying not to stare at the deformity. "Um, have you seen my, uh, husband, Eleanor?"

"Oh, he went to court. He said when he got up you were sleeping so soundly that he didn't want to wake you, so he sent me to check on you! You've been sleeping for a long time."

"This is too much." Cara sighed and fell back against her pillows again. It was her first day as the queen of a mythical race. Her musings were interrupted by her stomach loudly growling and then by Eleanor gasping and rushing out of the room. "Strange girl," she muttered to herself. "But I think we could be friends…" Eleanor quickly reentered the room holding a large tray piled with meat and flat bread and vegetables.

"I'm so sorry; I forgot to bring in your first meal! Marak said that he wanted you to stay put until he got back, by the way. He wants to show you around your new home if you're up to it." The goblin-girl set the tray down on Cara's lap and plopped herself back onto the bed.

Cara examined the tray in the dim light. It looked very primal and slightly overcooked and the thought of eating after waking up to her reality sickened her.

"Oh please eat something," Eleanor sighed as she cuddled up next to the queen like old friends would have done, but this task was very difficult with her spine pushed her forward. "I promise it tastes better than it looks." She added with a sweet, comforting smile. Cara gave a weak chuckle before looking down at her breakfast again.

"Oh, uh, Eleanor, where is my fork?"

"Why would you use a fork? They are horribly impractical. Besides, why would you want to spear your food twice? That's just disrespectful to the poor deer." Eleanor replied as she pointed to the pieces of flat bread on the tray. "You use the cracker to put your food into your mouth, plus it tastes really good!" Cara eyed the beautiful goblin skeptically.

"Okay, so why can't you turn on any of the lights? It's so dark in here! I can barely see the food to eat it!" The new bride sighed. When she was stressed out, she had a nasty habit of complaining about things to anyone who would listen.

"Most of the goblins can't see in the daylight, so we have to keep it dim for them. You'll get used to it, most of the human brides do and if you don't, I'm sure Marak or I will cast a spell on you so you can." Cara felt her stomach begin to churn, it was all so permanent. She was going to be stuck in the depths of a cave for the rest of her life married to a blue tinted goblin king and his kooky subjects eating deer jerky and having limited visibility, and what's worst was that she would never be able to say she was sorry to her father or see any of her friends or family again. And so began the new life of Cara Carson, er, Cara the goblin bride.


End file.
